Workforce

In the Northern Cancer Alliance we are treating more cancers with our ability to diagnose and manage cancer with new innovations and technological advances.

Cancer survival rates are higher than they have ever been before. However we cannot continue to transform cancer services to meet the changing needs of our population if we do not have the workforce to implement new treatments, support new ways of working and make a difference to the experience of our patients.

It is essential therefore that the Alliance has cancer workforce at the heart of its work plan. As an Alliance we need to work together to identify the workforce impact of future service models, to assess, plan and implement the investment and services required to ensure we are able to make the most of working with new developments.

An important element of planning and developing the future workforce is ensuring that the current workforce has access to the training and education it requires to change and meet demand. We have developed a virtual cancer academy to enhance the skill set of those that are key to the patient journey through the early diagnosis and recovery stages. This includes resources for staff working in community and primary care settings (district nurses, practice nurses, GPs and healthcare assistants) as well as those working in secondary care. We have a vision that we will build this learning resource to be the “go to” resource for those working across North Cumbria and the North East.

For further information relating to the planning and development of the future cancer workforce please access reports from Macmillan and Health Education England below.